eBay: Zero Feedback Buyer, Help Me Protect Myself

[Garret]

So I sold a nice portable on eBay last night. It turns out the high bidder is registered in Moldova, has zero feedback, and wants me to ship to an address in southern France. Moreover the guy sent me a message last night saying he was trying to pay with card, but it wasn't working.

Alarm bells are ringing. How do I protect myself and make sure I am not out of money if the fellow pays through the system and eBay tells me to ship? I'm already inclined to just cancel the sale, but I have perfect feedback, and want to keep it that way. I have already changed ebay and paypal account passwords and I am reverifying my bank payment information through the system as a precautionary measure.

Thanks,

Garret

[epigramophone]

I would cancel the transaction before the "buyer" pays, or if he has already paid, refund the payment.
The worst that can happen is negative feedback to which sellers can respond.
if you set out your reservations clearly, eBay may even be persuaded to cancel the feedback.

i am an occasional seller, and protect myself from such hassle by stating in my listings that I do not post outside the UK.
Requests such as "how much to post to China" are simply ignored.

[Raphael]

I have made a number of sales to zero-feedback customers and never had a problem. People have to start somewhere. If eBay collects the money, your risk is the same as selling to somebody with lots of feedback. There are honest people and crooks at all levels. In your case, given your concerns, I would take photographs of the item as it is being packed, to verify that you sent him the actual item.

Raphael

[Garret]

I have made a number of sales to zero-feedback customers and never had a problem. People have to start somewhere. If eBay collects the money, your risk is the same as selling to somebody with lots of feedback. There are honest people and crooks at all levels. In your case, given your concerns, I would take photographs of the item as it is being packed, to verify that you sent him the actual item.

Raphael

Thanks. The ebay system indicates this guy paid, so we'll see how this goes. I'm getting tracking, requiring a signature, and slapping sufficient insurance on this parcel.

[Granby]

Does Ebay still "hold" the money until the buyer receives the item and declares they are satisfied with the item? That happened to me a while back. I had to wait WEEKS until ebay would "release" my money when I sold something. Awkward.....

As it pertains to your dilemma, "when" I would get paid would be a determining factor. If you are going to wait weeks until ebay decides to "release" the funds to you, I personally feel there is too much potential for something to go bad with this....

[MikeB]

Are you using Ebay's Global Shipping program? If so, Ebay will take responsibility for the item once it gets to their shipping center in the U.S. But they require that the item ships to a "registered" address; (I think that the buyer must initially register a shipping address with them.) If you are not using the Global Shipping Program, and the buyer is changing shipping addresses after the sale, I would say that the risk is too high, and I would cancel the transaction.

[jboger]

I'm not aware that eBay ever held up any money until the buyer received and was satisfied with the item. I think Mercari does that, but not eBay.

With regards to this post, if the buyer has paid, as indicated by eBay, I would proceed with the transaction, in good faith, but I would wait until the funds are deposited into your bank account. That is to say, when eBay transfers funds it's no longer done through PayPal; rather, a deposit is made directly into your bank account. That can take up to three days. I suspect, because thousand of transaction are made each day and involve thousands of dollars (if not more), eBay collects interest while the funds are in its possession. If that's correct, eBay's bean counters have been at work.

[Granby]

I'm not aware that eBay ever held up any money until the buyer received and was satisfied with the item. I think Mercari does that, but not eBay.

With regards to this post, if the buyer has paid, as indicated by eBay, I would proceed with the transaction, in good faith, but I would wait until the funds are deposited into your bank account. That is to say, when eBay transfers funds it's no longer done through PayPal; rather, a deposit is made directly into your bank account. That can take up to three days. I suspect, because thousand of transaction are made each day and involve thousands of dollars (if not more), eBay collects interest while the funds are in its possession. If that's correct, eBay's bean counters have been at work.

Agreed - wait until the funds are deposited in your account before shipping.

Ebay held my money for quite a while.... and Etsy has a similar policy, too. However, I don't sell on Ebay or Etsy very often. Their "holding of my funds" may have been related to my low seller activity. I'll see if I can locate the transaction emails sometime to satisfy my own curiosity on the details..... It has been a little while, now.

[Watanabehi]

I'm not aware that eBay ever held up any money until the buyer received and was satisfied with the item. I think Mercari does that, but not eBay.

With regards to this post, if the buyer has paid, as indicated by eBay, I would proceed with the transaction, in good faith, but I would wait until the funds are deposited into your bank account. That is to say, when eBay transfers funds it's no longer done through PayPal; rather, a deposit is made directly into your bank account. That can take up to three days. I suspect, because thousand of transaction are made each day and involve thousands of dollars (if not more), eBay collects interest while the funds are in its possession. If that's correct, eBay's bean counters have been at work.

Agreed - wait until the funds are deposited in your account before shipping.

Ebay held my money for quite a while.... and Etsy has a similar policy, too. However, I don't sell on Ebay or Etsy very often. Their "holding of my funds" may have been related to my low seller activity. I'll see if I can locate the transaction emails sometime to satisfy my own curiosity on the details..... It has been a little while, now.

I always tell my buyers "Thank you for the payment to ebay, I will send the item in a secure way as soon as ebay deposits the payment into my bank account." Unfortunately ebay deposits the payment in my bank account kinda late.

[52089]

I'm not aware that eBay ever held up any money until the buyer received and was satisfied with the item. I think Mercari does that, but not eBay.

With regards to this post, if the buyer has paid, as indicated by eBay, I would proceed with the transaction, in good faith, but I would wait until the funds are deposited into your bank account. That is to say, when eBay transfers funds it's no longer done through PayPal; rather, a deposit is made directly into your bank account. That can take up to three days. I suspect, because thousand of transaction are made each day and involve thousands of dollars (if not more), eBay collects interest while the funds are in its possession. If that's correct, eBay's bean counters have been at work.

Ebay will withhold payment from you (temporarily) under several circumstances. The ones that I am aware of as as follows:
1) new account
2) mismatch of ID and bank details
3) sudden increase in sales
3) enrolling in new seller services like Vault or Wallet

If ebay requires to you verify your ID, they will not payout to your bank account until you do so. Other than for a new account, I am not aware of ebay holding money based primarily on the buyer telling ebay they are satisfied. If the buyer fails to do so, it can take as much as 2 weeks to get paid.